I haven't posted on here in a while (or used fountain pens for a bit), but I found a rather nice and affordable pen recently so I thought that I'd share my experience.
Jinhao 51A in blue acrylic
Sorry about the poor pictures; the Rhodia is throwing my white balance off.
It's a cheap pen ($5ish on eBay), and it sat on my desk for a while before I inked it and tried it out.
Capped, it's supposed to be reminiscent of a Parker 51. It looks nice, without obnoxious branding (the Jinhao and 51A on the base of the cap are subtle). It's a snap cap, which is something I really like - I find snap caps to be much more convenient than screw tops. It seems to cap securely. The clip is quite tight.
Posted, it's a little back heavy (balance is good unposted). The grip feels smooth, and I really like that the metal between the section and the rest of the pen is smooth enough to not be irritating or noticeable - I tend to dislike steps, like the Pilot Metropolitan
It has a converter that works like every other converter I've ever seen - enough said.
It writes smoothly as a fine nib. Interestingly, the nib is soft enough that you get a bit of line variation with pressure. It's not much with normal writing pressure, but you do get a nice bit of color variation. I'm using Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses (old formulation) above on Rhodia.
Short version - a cheap, snap cap pen that is light and easy to carry, writes smoothly, and has a bit of line variation when writing. I've ordered a few more from Bobby (eBay seller who supposedly grind his own nibs and makes sure that his nibs are smooth), along with a pen case and a weird "dragon" nib for around $20 total (2 pens, 1 nib, and 1 pen pouch). I'm looking forward to seeing how his pens are.
Enjoy!
Jinhao 51A in blue acrylic
Sorry about the poor pictures; the Rhodia is throwing my white balance off.
It's a cheap pen ($5ish on eBay), and it sat on my desk for a while before I inked it and tried it out.
Capped, it's supposed to be reminiscent of a Parker 51. It looks nice, without obnoxious branding (the Jinhao and 51A on the base of the cap are subtle). It's a snap cap, which is something I really like - I find snap caps to be much more convenient than screw tops. It seems to cap securely. The clip is quite tight.
Posted, it's a little back heavy (balance is good unposted). The grip feels smooth, and I really like that the metal between the section and the rest of the pen is smooth enough to not be irritating or noticeable - I tend to dislike steps, like the Pilot Metropolitan
It has a converter that works like every other converter I've ever seen - enough said.
It writes smoothly as a fine nib. Interestingly, the nib is soft enough that you get a bit of line variation with pressure. It's not much with normal writing pressure, but you do get a nice bit of color variation. I'm using Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses (old formulation) above on Rhodia.
Short version - a cheap, snap cap pen that is light and easy to carry, writes smoothly, and has a bit of line variation when writing. I've ordered a few more from Bobby (eBay seller who supposedly grind his own nibs and makes sure that his nibs are smooth), along with a pen case and a weird "dragon" nib for around $20 total (2 pens, 1 nib, and 1 pen pouch). I'm looking forward to seeing how his pens are.
Enjoy!
